China's skaters earn historic bronze in men's team pursuit

China's speed-skating squad made history at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Tuesday by securing the country's first-ever Olympic medal in men's team pursuit after edging out powerhouse Team Netherlands to claim bronze.

After being beaten by the United States in the semifinals, the Chinese trio of Liu Hanbin, Wu Yu, and Li Wenhao came back well in Final B, where the two losing squads from the semis battled it out for the bronze medal. The Chinese skaters held off a surging Netherlands team that had lost to the hosts Italy in the other semi.

China finished first in three minutes 41.38 seconds, just 0.09 seconds ahead of the Netherlands.

It was China's first Olympic medal in the team speed-skating event, for either men or women.

The Italian team won gold in 3:39.20 after beating Team USA by the sizable margin of 4.51 seconds, cheered on by the home crowd at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium in northwest Milan's suburbs.